Before he even gets signed to an NFL roster, EJ Warner will have grown up as the son of Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner and will have been on the practice field for two future Hall of Fame NFL coaches in Andy Reid and Sean Payton.
The Denver Broncos are reportedly bringing in the former Fresno State quarterback on a tryout basis at their rookie minicamp over Mother's Day weekend, and he'll have an intriguing chance to crack the team's 90-man offseason roster.
It could end up being a golden opportunity for Warner, who was just recently a tryout player at the Kansas City Chiefs' rookie minicamp, as the Broncos prepare for an offseason program without starting quarterback Bo Nix doing any significant on-field work (ankle). With that in mind, what does Warner bring to the table, and how can he take advantage of this golden opportunity?
Denver Broncos giving Kurt Warner's son EJ Warner a shot at rookie minicamp
Warner played a couple of seasons to start off his college career at Temple before transferring to Rice for a year, then finishing off his four years at Fresno State in 2025. He completed 69.3 percent of his passes last season at Fresno State, the highest completion rate he had in college, and threw for over 10,000 yards with 71 touchdowns and 48 interceptions over the course of his four years.
Just a shade under 6-feet tall, Warner is 213 pounds and has some solid athletic traits to him. He ran a 4.83-second 40-yard dash and posted a 30.5-inch vertical jump at the Fresno State pro day.
As you would expect, Kurt is a proud dad and is excited to see how his son takes advantage of the opportunities he's getting from NFL teams:
I would say the excitement level is higher for EJ than for myself! I was just hoping to get a chance, while I believe EJ has more than earned a chance based off how really good he has been! I also think he’s going to surprise a lot of ppl, which adds to that excitement!
— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) April 23, 2026
Also bc… https://t.co/Gh8sLOS9v3
Warner has a real shot to earn a roster spot with the Broncos because of the current situation with Bo Nix and his ankle. The Broncos won't be rushing Nix back to the field for any sort of 11-on-11 or anything like that, and we might not even see him out there doing any team work until training camp.
And that's the right call at this point in time.
The only question is whether the Broncos feel like it will be necessary to have a 3rd quarterback in the interim, or if they are going to just give all of the reps to Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger. Typically, we're used to seeing at least three, if not four quarterbacks on the offseason roster.
The Broncos are also breaking in a new play-caller this year in Davis Webb, and the journey of a player like EJ Warner certainly appeals to the likes of Webb and Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who both spent time in the NFL as backup quarterbacks. They can resonate with the long journey.
We'll see how things play out with Warner and other tryout players at Broncos rookie minicamp, because Sean Payton will make sure he sticks around if he's got chops.
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